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07 December 2006

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Sport England’s Active People Survey provides an unprecedented picture of sport and active recreation across England and the South West

21.9% of adults in the South West are regularly active, with another 28.9% building some sport and active recreation into their lives, according to the results of a major nationwide survey released today by Sport England (1).

However, nearly half the adult population (aged 16 and over) of the South West (49.2%) don’t take part in any moderate intensity sport or active recreation, just below the national figure of 50.6%. But Sport England’s Active People Survey shows that 70.5 % of South West adults (aged 16 and over) are satisfied with the sports provision in their local area, just above the national figure of 69.5% (2).

Around one in four adults, or 24.4%, belong to a health or sports club, compared to 25.1% nationally, and 16.2% of adults have taken part in competitive sport in the last 12 months, compared to 15% across England.

The Active People Survey, the largest ever conducted into the sport and recreational habits of people in England, paints a fascinating and diverse picture of participation. Of the people questioned in the South West:

21.9% are hitting the recommended target of 30 minutes of moderate intensity sport or active recreation on at least three days a week, compared to the national figure of 21% (2).
28.9% have built some moderate intensity exercise into their lives. This compares to 28% across the country (2).
49.2% did not take part in any moderate intensity sport or active recreation (for 30 minutes or more) in the previous four weeks, compared to 50.6% nationally.
Isles of Scilly (4) is the most active local authority area in the region (32% regularly active), followed by West Devon (26.2%) while Plymouth PA recorded the lowest percentage hitting the 3 x 30 minute a week target at 18.6%.
The survey shows that socio-demographic factors heavily impact on participation, with lower regular participation among women (20.1%) than men (23.8%). The highest socio-economic groups have higher participation (25.9%) than those from the most deprived backgrounds (17.9%). Taking into account deprivation in the area Penwith, Bournemouth and North Devon are among the best performing local authority areas in the country in terms of regular participation.

Sport England, the body charged with sustaining and increasing participation in sport, commissioned Ipsos MORI to carry out the survey to gauge how active England really is. Nationally, inactivity costs the UK an estimated £8.2 billion each year. The results of the survey will help Sport England, working with partners across the region, to target and inform future investment to improve community sport.

1,000 residents were questioned in every local authority area about their sport and active recreation habits as part of the survey. The sample size is more than twenty times larger than the 2002 General Household Survey, the last major survey conducted in sport.

When it comes to volunteering in the South West the people of the Isles of Scilly are most generous with their time with 7.7% of people giving at least one hour a week to help run a sport club or activity. Across the region, 215,079 or 5.2% spend at least one hour on sport volunteering in an average week, compared to 4.7% nationally. Nationally some 1.9 million people give up one hour a week. People living in large cities tend to volunteer much less than their rural counterparts.

As expected the most active age group in the region are those aged between 16 and 24, and the survey shows that people drop out of exercise and do less and less as they get older. This has implications with the ageing population and could be seen as a call to action by sports centres, gyms and sports clubs across the region to make their offer more attractive to older people.

Nationally, the South East is the most active region, while the West Midlands has the lowest proportion of adults hitting the 3 x 30 minute a week target (19.3%). Richmond upon Thames has the accolade of being the most active Local Authority area, closely followed by Macclesfield in Cheshire. Meanwhile, Boston in Lincolnshire and Newham in London are currently the least active.

The survey also gives a picture of the most popular sports across England. Walking is the most popular recreational activity, followed by swimming and going to the gym. Football, athletics (including all running), golf, badminton, tennis and aerobics make up the top 10.

The results of the survey will help Sport England, sports organizations, local and national government understand the obstacles to people taking part and take action to overcome them. The inactive group can be analysed to establish their age, social class, and car ownership. In light of the findings Sport England will look to provide targeted support to selected Local Authorities, looking at club, coach, volunteer and community sports provision.

Jim Clarke, Regional Director of Sport England South West, said today: “This survey provides an unprecedented picture of activity and inactivity in England. Knowing the scale of the challenge is the first step to putting it right. We will work with our partners at county and local level to make sure these findings help us all target our resources better. This will help us ensure that we have the right places to play sport, and people on the ground to make sport happen – coaches, paid and unpaid, and other crucial volunteers.

“The survey results also complement existing tools, including our Active Places website, which allows us to analyse facilities around the country. This information will be crucial as we look to reach out to more of those currently missing out on sport and its benefits. Here in the South West, we are tasked with getting 248,433 more people active by 2012. It’s a huge challenge and we’re ready for it.”

Sport England provides advice to partners, invests National Lottery and Government funding in community sport, and promotes sport and its benefits. The organisation said that in light of the findings Sport England would undertake a review, working with selected Local Authorities, which will look at club, coach, volunteer and community sport provision.

The Audit Commission will use some of the results from the survey, adjusted to reflect the different levels of deprivation in local authority areas, in its culture service assessments as part of comprehensive performance assessment for single tier local authorities. And the survey will be repeated in three years time to see if the concerted efforts by all partners to get the nation active are having an effect.

- ENDS -

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

Regional contact: Gemma Irvine – Tel: 0117 921 1131, Email: GIrvine@golleyslater.co.uk
Jason Lyons – Tel: 02072731840/ 07920297437, Email: Jason.lyons@sportengland.org

Contact: Jane Clarke, Head of Communications, Tel: 020 7273 1800 Vivien Smiley (020 7273 1822), Alex Russell (020 7273 1866) or Chris Rolfe (020 7273 1593) Email: mediateam@sportengland.org
Web: www.sportengland.org

NOTES TO EDITORS

Sport England is working to create an active nation through sport, providing advice to partners, investing in community sport and promoting sport and its benefits. Our aim is to increase the number of people participating in sport and active recreation by around 2 million by 2012 with specific focus on hard to reach groups that are currently under-represented. Sport England is a non-departmental public body that distributes both Lottery and public funding to develop community sport.

1.The Survey measured the number of days over the previous 28 days that people aged 16 and over take part in 30 minutes moderate intensity sport and active recreation, including recreational walking and cycling. The data on volunteering are based on time spent in the last 28 days.

2.Those described as not taking part in sport or active recreation had not taken part in any moderate intensity sport and active recreation of at least 30 minutes duration in the last 4 weeks. Those described as building some exercise into their lives did at least 30 minutes of moderate intensity sport and active recreation on between one and eleven (inclusive) days in the previous 28 days. Those described as satisfied said they were either very or fairly satisfied with sports provision in their area.

3.The survey collected information on 239 sports /activities. These did not include activities such as DIY, gardening, housework and occupational related activity.

4.Sport England commissioned Ipsos MORI to conduct the Active People Survey. This was carried out by telephone survey between October 2005 and October 2006 with at least 1,000 interviews being conducted across every Local Authority area in England (except Isles of Scilly and City of London and Birmingham). A total of 363,724 people aged 16 and over were surveyed over the period.

5.The Isles of Scilly have the highest measured rates of participation in the country but these are less reliable due to the small sample sizes achieved.

6.The full results of the Active People Survey will provide the following key statistics:

The % of the adult population (16 and over) participating in at least 30 minutes moderate intensity sport and active recreation in England on three or more days a week (‘3x30’) including by geographic area, down to local authority area.
The % of the adult population participating in recreational walking and cycling.
Information about sports participation broken down by age, gender, ethnicity, disabled/non-disabled and by socio-economic group.
The % of the adult population volunteering in sport and active recreation for at least one hour a week, again down to local authority level.
The % of the adult population who are members of sports clubs, or had received coaching or tuition, or taken part in competition in the previous 12 months.
Levels of overall satisfaction with sports provision in respondents’ local area.

7.The results of the Active People Survey will also inform the new sport and recreation indicators in the Comprehensive Performance Assessment (CPA). The findings have been welcomed by the Audit Commission, the Local Government Association and many national Governing Bodies of Sport

8.The Active People Survey provides Sport England and its partners with an unprecedented picture of participation in sport and active recreation across England. These results will help Sport England and its partners to:

Encourage the nation to become more active through sport.
Present a current picture of activity levels. The survey will be repeated in 2008/09 and again in 2011/12. This will give an accurate indication over time of how sporting our nation is, and allowing us to measure the effectiveness of our work to get more people participating in sport and active recreation every year.
Demonstrate the benefits that sport can bring to the health of the nation.
Inform future policy and resource allocation by helping us identify the areas of greatest need. Sport England will work with its national and regional partners, with County Sports Partnerships at the sub-regional level, and through them with local partners to utilise this knowledge.

9. The data from Active People will be used in conjunction with Sport England’s online facilities database, www.activeplaces.com

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